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You have to have biscuits need to buy the But the beauty of this recipe is that you don't ham. The best ham, after all, is a real country ham, which means the ham has been dry-cured in salt, smoked, and aged for at least six months. But country ham is scarce in spring, and many people find it too salty to act as the main course of a meal anyway. What you're looking for instead is a "city" ham. It usually comes sealed in plastic (not in a can) , has been cured (but not dry-cured) and smoked (but not necessarily aged) , and is fully cooked (it says so on the label) . Because these hams are "wet-cured" (soaked in a best Don't overmlx the dough or your biscuits will be tough. Blend just until the mixture leaves the sides of the bowl. Flour your fingertips before patting out the dough. Finish with a rolling pin, using a light touch. _r Punch-don't twist-your biscuits. Use a metal cutter, not an overturned glass. fully cooked, smoked ham, preferably not spiralsliced and not glazed. I find most glazes sickeningly sweet and beside the point if you want to actually taste the ham. But which ham to buy? A ham is defined most broadly as the hind leg of a pig. Most hams are cured, smoked, or both, for preservation and flavor. (A fresh ham is not cured; it's simply fresh pork.) A whole ham is perfect for the holidays; it feeds a crowd easily. Most supermarkets north of the Mason-Dixon Line don't stock whole hams yearround. (What you will find are half hams-whole hams cut into shank and butt portions.) But during the holidays you can usually find whole hams no matter where you live. And with Easter coming late this year, there's still time for you to hound your butcher into stocking some whole hams, which weigh up to 20 pounds and can easily feed 25 people. Your best bet, however-both for availability and for flavormay be to mail-order your ham. (See Sources, p. 84.) 42 brine or, if mass-produced, injected with one) , they contain added water (meat is already made up of about 75% water) . The National Pork Producers Council grades these hams on a water-to-protein ratio; generally, the more protein, the better the ham. A ham cured without added water, such as a country ham, must have at least 20.5% protein, and will simply be labeled "ham." A ham labeled "ham with natural juices" must have at least 18.5% protein, and one labeled "water added" 17%. The ham to avoid is the kind labeled "ham and water product." These hams have less than 17% protein and can in fact be much less than that. But go ahead and choose a "water added" ham; I find that added moisture is actually beneficial to the long, gentle reheating I'm suggesting. I haven't tried this method on a "ham with natural juices." But as with all of these hams, which have instructions that generally recommend that you heat them at 350°F for 15 minutes per pound, I think this gentler method would work better. A bone-in ham has the best flavor, texture, and shape. I think meat tastes best when cooked on the bone. (And a ham bone is serious kitchen currency; save it-you can freeze it-to make the best bean soup.) A partially boned ham is next best; it looks like a big football, but it's easy to carve, and if you're carving in the kitchen, no one will see its funny shape anyway. Fully boned hams can have an off texture because the meat, once it's been pulled off the bone, must be reshaped to fill the hole left from the bone. Be sure to make biscuits Slices of sweet, salty, smoky ham piled on a platter are a wonderful addition to a buffet. I love it with collards cooked in ample olive oil and baked sweet potatoes. And biscuits. Most southerners grew up, as I did, eating lard bis- cuits-light and flaky but seldom bigger than a silver dollar (see Fine Cooking # 14) . But there exists a biscuit that we used to see only on special occasions, such as a birthday breakfast or a holiday morning. What sets these biscuits apart is that they're bigger and they're made with butter in place of the lardwhich seemed extravagant when I was a child but now seems oddly conservative. FINE COOKING